That would be sweet.

Well, here's their big opportunity! Pelosi should strike while the iron is hot!

eom

Tea Party crazies. Anything could happen.

the democrats to play kingmaker if a republican faction is willing to forge a coalition with the democrats to achieve a majority (if only for the purpose of electing the speaker). that's never happened, but talk emerges from time to time.

in practice, i can't see any faction of republicans betraying their party to elect a non-republican as speaker.

so, it might be the democrat's pick of the lesser of evils, but it would still be an evil.

anybody who can get the votes can be speaker. You do have to have a majority, though. In the US that tends to mean that the majority party will elect the speaker, but there is nothing in the Constitution about political parties, so it is conceivable that there could be a Speaker from the minority party. Idk if it has ever happened, but it could.

Don't know how a split vote would work, it would have to result in a 3rd candidate getting 51% of the votes, though, so highly unlikely that scenario would work out.

the could make donald trump or one of the koch brothers or kim davis speaker if they were nuts enough to do it.